Generations of Maryland workers - longshoremen, seafarers, steelworkers and crabbers whose livelihoods depend on Baltimore's port - watched in disbelief this week as an iconic symbol of their maritime culture crumbled into the Patapsco River.
A person views from Fort McHenry a container ship as it rests against the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Baltimore. BALTIMORE — Generations of Maryland workers - longshoremen, seafarers, steelworkers and crabbers whose livelihoods depend on Baltimore’s port - watched in disbelief this week as an iconic symbol of their maritime culture crumbled into the Patapsco River.
“They always say it’s the port that built the city,” said Cowan, who followed in his father’s footsteps when he became a longshoreman decades ago. Baltimore became a global leader in shipbuilding early on in its history. It later became a major transportation hub with the addition of a railroad line connecting the east coast to the Midwest and beyond.
It currently processes more cars and farm equipment than any other port in the country. Last year alone, it handled $80 billion of foreign cargo, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at a news conference earlier this week. Advocates say their deaths take on larger significance in the context of the myriad challenges facing immigrants in the U.S. The men were performing a physically grueling job for relatively low wages. They were laboring during nighttime hours to avoid inconveniencing Maryland commuters.
Between the Civil War and World War I, Baltimore became one of the country’s largest points of entry for European immigrants. In 1868, an immigration pier opened in south Baltimore not far from the historic battlefield that birthed the Star-Spangled Banner. CASA, an immigrant advocacy group based in Maryland, has been in contact with two of the families whose loved ones are among those still missing. Both men - Maynor Suazo Sandoval and Miguel Luna - were husbands and fathers who left their home countries over 15 years ago.
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